Three-time player Ciera Eastin is the first person voted out of Game Changers
(Robert Voets/CBS)

The Survivor Game Changers season is officially upon us, and every week, Parade’s Josh Wigler will bring you interviews with the castaways as they’re voted off the island. Click here to make sure you don’t miss a single story, and click here to revisit our massive preseason coverage.

“Play the game,” she said. “Even if it’s not with me,” she said. Well, careful what you wish for. After spending her final days on Survivor: Cambodia – Second Chance railing against rigid old school tactics, imploring her fellow competitors to change the game, Ciera Eastingot exactly what she asked for in the first three days of Survivor: Game Changers… albeit at her own expense.

Ciera follows in the footsteps of fellow Blood vs Water veteran Vytas Baskauskas in becoming the latest Survivor returning player to go out first. I was on hand to watch Ciera’s elimination during the first Tribal Council of Game Changers back in June 2016, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting the opportunity to pick her brain about that night ever since. Almost a year later, Ciera finally opens up about getting voted out first, how she coped with the turn of events, her view of the three days she spent in the game, and much more.

Wigler: I’ve been waiting to talk to you for a while, because I was at that Tribal. Back then, it looked like you figured it out at one point before the vote, that you were in danger. Did I read that right?

Ciera: Oh, yeah. The second Hali said “loose lips sink ships,” I knew I was gone. Well, I shouldn’t say that. I knew something was up. The reason I was under the impression we were voting for Michaela had nothing to do with that. The second she said that, I knew there was something going on that I didn’t know about. And then Michaela made another comment, and I forget exactly what it was, but at that moment, I knew it was me.

Wigler: That’s tough. You’re usually on the right side of the vote, or you at least know where the votes are going. It must have been an incredibly different experience, heading into the voting booth.

Ciera: It felt completely new. Maybe I needed it? (Laughs.) Because you’re right, normally I am on the right side of most of the votes, and have a good grasp of what’s going on around camp. I can tell you that for me personally, probably the first week of Survivor is the hardest for me to get through. I think it’s a mix of things. I’m not a strong competitor in challenges, so that target is on my back. Then there’s also the awkwardness of getting to know people and building those relationships. So it’s already awkward, right? But this time, something was just not clicking with me, as far as relationships. At Tribal Council, when I knew I was on the outside of the vote, it was so surreal. It was like a nightmare. It felt like I was outside of my body watching it all play out. It didn’t even hit me until the next day that I started to be like, “How did this happen? This sucks!”

Wigler: Tell me about those three days. What was your view of the tribe dynamic?

Ciera: I had just come off pretty fresh from Second Chance. It hadn’t even been a year yet. It was very fresh in my mind. I went into this season expecting it was going to be a lot of chaos right off the bat, because in Second Chance, we hit the beach running. Everyone was talking to everybody, everybody was talking strategy, everybody was trying to get a feel for each other. Even though so much of that was bullsh—, it was happening. This season, I went in expecting something similar. It was so slow paced. People weren’t even building a shelter. It shows us trying, but the whole time I was there — which wasn’t that long, granted — we didn’t have a shelter built. People were just sitting around camp talking about their lives. When you would try to say, “Hey, I’m excited to work with you!” The response that I would get would be, “Oh, yeah, we’ll see how it goes. Let’s not worry about it too early, though.” And I’m not a dumbass. I know what that meant. It meant you don’t want to work with me. If you wanted to work with me, you would say, “Totally, it’s me and you.” So I kind of knew that things were off. I can tell you that the very obvious target everyone was talking about was Tony. He ran off right when we hit the beach, as you saw. In the middle of the night, he would disappear. Him and Caleb would sit up by the fire in the middle of the night and then they would go and wander off. Everybody was talking about Tony. It’s not like you saw a clip where I walk up to the well and I say, “Tony.” What you didn’t see is I walked into that conversation. They were already talking about Tony. “Do you see that Tony’s been digging in the dirt right here?” It’s not like I was crazy in throwing everybody’s name out. They were talking about Tony. And I was saying: “Totally. This is an obvious thing.” I thought the edit was a little off from my perspective.

Wigler: What about tossing out Caleb’s name? Was that you who introduced that idea?

Ciera: Okay, so that might be the thing that set me off and set me apart and pissed people off. Tony and Caleb were tight, tight, tight. They would go off in the night, they would go fishing together. They were always together. I think part of what pissed people off at the well is that I said… they were all worried that Tony had the idol, and I said worst case scenario, we can just vote Caleb and get rid of Tony’s righthand man. I think in that moment, Malcolm wanted to work with Caleb, and the comment put a sour taste in Malcolm’s mind for me. I give sole credit to Malcolm for the reason why I’m gone. He had Aubry in his pocket, Hali in his pocket, and whatever Malcolm did? They were going to do, too. And obviously he had Caleb. I give him credit for me being the one to go. I definitely think that moment where I said Caleb, that’s what did it. But I don’t think I was the only one walking around and naming names. Literally the only name I said the entire time I was out there was Michaela or Tony, which everybody was saying.

Wigler: I had been hearing some buzz that some of the people on Mana were looking at Aubry as a possible target. Do you have any memory of that?

Ciera: Definitely. Like I said, I was in multiple conversations. I wasn’t the only one talking strategy. I would be in conversations with Sandra, and she did not get a good vibe from Aubry. It didn’t go further than, “Hey, I don’t like how close Malcolm is with Aubry,” talk like that. That might have been the first day. I don’t know. It’s so hard to say, looking back. I was only out there for a short period of time and it’s been a year since then. It’s hard to remember everything. But to see the perspective that Ciera is the only one saying names and Ciera is the pot-stirrer? From my perspective, I didn’t see that as accurate.

Wigler: You walk up to the first immunity challenge and it’s the very first one you ever competed in. Gordon Holmes and I had wondered if you and your mother ever talked through the trick to completing the ship wheel puzzle. Was your mom’s voice in your head that day?

Ciera: Oh yeah. OH YEAH. The second I saw that puzzle, I heard my mom’s voice in my head. My mom had talked me through how to do that puzzle. She said the key is to find the skeleton key, and that’s going to be your main key, and then all you have to do is lay out the keys and match them all to that key. That’s the hardest part of the puzzle, those spokes. It’s not the handles, it’s the spokes. In my mind, I’m thinking: “Skeleton key! You got this, Ciera!” I honestly cannot tell you what happened. (Laughs.) But it doesn’t surprise me. I’m the worst at challenges. I get in my head. I get super anxious. I suck.

Wigler: Revisiting the preseason interviews, you talked about how you were worried you might mess up in a challenge early on, that it could cost you. The fear was very much on your mind.

Ciera: It’s always my fear. That’s why I say the first week is the hardest for me. After the first week? First off, when you’re at individual immunities, nobody cares, nobody wants you to win. So that pressure is completely gone for the most part. But when you’re just starting to find the tribe dynamic? That first challenge is so crucial to making sure you keep the team morale up. My anxiety was just so high. I kept hearing my mom’s voice. I got into my head too much. Obviously both teams struggled. We were behind in the challenge the whole time. It’s not like I had some advantage and totally screwed it up. That being said, I did have an advantage, having done this before. I felt so bad. But again, that’s not the reason why I was gone. Before we even went to the challenge, you saw it. People were wary of me.

Wigler: Your first ever immunity challenge is also your currently last immunity challenge. Your first ever Tribal Council is an 8-1 blow out against Marissa, and your currently last Tribal Council is a 9-1 shutout against you. I don’t know what any of that means, other than to say Survivor has a weird way of bringing things full circle.

Ciera: Oh my god. I have not thought about that. It’s so true though. It’s so weird. That’s very strange.

Wigler: Would you want to come back for round four? Would you like to break that circle?

Ciera: Yes. I really, really, really do. If I’m being completely honest? Even coming out to film this time felt very different for me. I was having a hard time leaving my children this time. I always do, and it’s a normal struggle for anybody who has kids. But for me, I have a five year old and this meant three of the only five years he’s been alive, I’ve been gone for his summers. That guilt was really heavy for me. It was such a burden that I was carrying being out there, more so than any other season I played on. That’s what got on my mind. I should have waited a little longer, I needed to come into this clear-minded and ready to go. My head was just not right. I definitely think I need to get my mind right first if I ever go again. My mind is so in Survivor mode. I think time away would be very good for me. I know I can win. I know it. I’ve learned so much over the course of all my seasons. I just think I need a little time. I want to get my head right and go back and play as the Ciera I know that I am and capable of being.

Wigler: Three days pass. You’re expecting someone to join you in Ponderosa. If you had to put money down, would it have been Tony?

Ciera: YES. (Laughs.) Totally! They were all talking about Tony. That’s why it’s funny for me: “Ciera’s throwing names out there.” Nope! Y’all wanted him gone. You talked about it. I knew it was going to be him.

Wigler: Without commenting on anyone else who joined you, what was it like to spend three days alone with Tony Vlachos at Ponderosa?

Ciera: Tony, I freaking love him so much. So, so, so much. He’s such a great guy. He’s a great, great player. I was glad it was him, because he’s so genuine and uplifting and funny. We really, really bonded. I love him. But he was definitely in shock. I thought I handled it bad? It was a little harder for him to grasp than it was for me.

Wigler: How did you cope with it? You’ve had a year at this point. How did you get to terms with being the first person voted out, with Survivor being such a big part of your life?

Ciera: I am so blessed in life. When I say that, I genuinely mean it. I am a lucky, lucky woman. I have a great life. Survivor has been so good to me and my family in so many ways. I’m so grateful. It’s hard to complain or even be upset at being the first vote out because of how lucky I was to get to go out there. The thing that hurts the most is the feeling of letting people down. I feel like people have expectations of me. People in my community were so excited to watch me. For them to only watch one episode? I feel bad that I let people down. Jeff saying he thought I could win, and letting him down in that way? That’s what was really hard to get over. To be completely honest, seeing it play? It brought up more emotions. I thought it was gone, and now it’s back. But it’ll be gone again. Life will go on.

Wigler: Did Jeff have any sage wisdom to impart on you after you were voted out?

Ciera: Just that basically it had to be someone, and he really wished it was not me. He was very bummed that it was me. Jeff has kids, too. We’ve really bonded over that. He has to leave his children to come out to Survivor, and I have to leave mine too. He really leveled with me on that and said he totally gets that feeling.

Wigler: You’re a new school Survivor. Game Changers is a very appropriate theme for someone like you. But you even brought it up at that Tribal Council, that maybe there’s something in the water, that maybe things are sliding back into an old school approach. What are your thoughts on that now?

Ciera: It definitely felt like things were transitioning. Even in Second Chance, we started to see that transition with the voting blocs. That’s not old school, but in some regard, there was a level of loyalty there with Tasha and Spencer and Jeremy. I think we slowly started to see that transition, that maybe the new school way of thinking was going back to being loyal. The game is constantly evolving and changing, and you have to evolve with it. Sometimes you can’t play a new school game. With so many twists these days, you have to count on someone, because you don’t know where things are going to go. I think that’s where the old school mentality starts coming back into play.

Josh Wigler is a writer, editor and podcaster who has been published by MTV News, New York Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Comic Book Resources and more. He is the co-author ofThe Evolution of Strategy: 30 Seasons of Survivor, an audiobook chronicling the reality TV show’s transformation, and one of the hosts of Post Show Recaps, a podcast about film and television. Follow Josh on Twitter @roundhoward.